When the arc in an operating high intensity discharge (HID) lamp is momentarily interrupted so as to be extinguished, the high electrical resistance of the hot lamp fill then makes the immediate striking of a new arc difficult. One then has to wait for the lamp to cool, or use a sufficiently high voltage to overcome the temporary high resistance. This is the hot restrike problem. Hot restrike may be overcome in several ways, but usually by the application of a high electric field between the main electrodes, for example, by using 26 kilovolts or more across the 4 millimeter arc gap in an automotive HID lamp. This brute force approach is used successfully in automotive HID lamps, where the need to relight the HID headlamps quickly is critical to safe nighttime driving. However, the high voltage source is expensive, and the high voltage, if not safely contained, may be dangerous. For HID lamps to be competitive in consumer markets, it is essential that the ignition voltage and especially the re-ignition voltage of an HID lamp be low. Consumer safety is of paramount importance, and, from a practical standpoint, many existing lamp fixtures are not safety rated for operation above 5 kilovolts. There is then a need to provide an HID lamp with rapid restrike ability without the use of extra high voltage.